Tag Archives: conservatorship

It’s easy to observe that the subject of a guardianship (or conservatorship) petition has a right to “due process” during the court process. But what does that mean? Does it include anything a judge orders? Does it require a court hearing? How will you know if you have been afforded due process before a guardianship…

Imagine that the adult care home where your uncle Bill resides has told you that you need to get a guardianship. What does that mean, and what do you have to do? Are there alternatives to guardianship? Guardianship means court involvement When you visit a lawyer to “get” guardianship, you should know that it…

If you act as guardian or conservator, you know that it can be a challenging job. Sometimes you need legal counsel. If you incur attorney fees, can you charge them to the estate? The general rule is that you can collect your attorney fees from the estate. There are exceptions. If your actions benefit you…

An Arizona guardianship and conservatorship case involving a Disney heir seems to have stumbled to a conclusion. It took six hotly contentious years and (reportedly) millions of dollars in legal fees. The case involves interesting legal issues and intense family drama. One side issue: the appointment of a “guardian ad litem”. What is a guardian…

We’ve written before about why you might want to avoid guardianship proceedings. They are expensive. More lawyers, judges and court-appointed officials are involved than most people would like to have in their lives. If you planned in advance, you probably would not choose a cumbersome, invasive and public legal proceeding. How can you avoid guardianship?…

When a court decides that a lawyer should return fees improperly collected, the usual term comes with powerful imagery. The lawyer is usually ordered to “disgorge” those fees. Courts are very protective about the fees charged in probate, guardianship and trust administration matters. Lawyers often find themselves having to justify their fees. An order to…

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 16 Suppose someone has asked the Arizona courts for appointment as your guardian and/or your conservator. A trial has been set to consider the petition. Do you think you should be entitled to a jury trial before a guardian or conservator is appointed? Under Arizona law, you are entitled to a jury…

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 15 Every state’s laws require court-appointed conservators (or guardians) of an estate to file a regular court accounting. Usually those filings must be filed every year (as Arizona law requires), but a few states permit them once every two years. No state lets you wait eight years between court accountings, as an…

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 11 At Fleming & Curti, PLC, we practice elder law. But what does that term mean? Our practice is focused on typical legal problems faced by older individuals. We also regularly work in the field of special needs planning for individuals with disabilities. Because the people coming to see us are often…

JANUARY 16, 2017 VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3 Things change. This is our twenty-fourth year of publishing Elder Law Issues, and one thing we frankly didn’t think much about a quarter-century ago was privacy. Today it’s a big concern, and central to a lot of our thinking. When Fleming & Curti, PLC, first formed in 1994,…